William W. Norton
1925–2010Screenwriter for Burt Reynolds films who was convicted of gunrunning for the Irish National Liberation Army, later killing an intruder in Nicaragua and being smuggled back into the U.S.
Particulars
After moving to Ireland in the mid-1980s, William W. Norton was angered by attacks against Roman Catholic residents of Northern Ireland. He flew back to the U.S., purchased guns, and had a hidden compartment built into a camping van. The van was shipped from Los Angeles to Rotterdam, then trucked to Le Havre, France, where authorities were waiting. On June 11, 1986, Norton and his wife Eleanor were arrested trying to retrieve the vehicle, which contained two submachine guns, 12 rifles, 23 revolvers, and 2,200 rounds of ammunition. In August 1987, Norton was sentenced to four years in prison; his wife received three years with two suspended. Norton was released after 19 months, and his wife after five months on medical grounds.
Norton was born in Ogden, Utah, in 1925. His family lost their ranch at the start of the Great Depression and moved to California. During World War II, he served as an infantry officer in Europe with Patton's Third Army. He began writing plays based on his experiences, and some were produced by local theater companies. In 1958, he testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee but did not name anyone.
Norton's Hollywood career included writing for the TV series The Big Valley and screenplays for films such as The Scalphunters (1968), Big Bad Mama (1974), Brannigan (1975), and several Burt Reynolds vehicles including Sam Whiskey, White Lightning, and Gator. When a nurse asked the day before he died if she would know any of his films, he replied, 'I don't think your I.Q. is low enough.'
After prison, Norton and his wife were granted asylum in Nicaragua. When bandits broke into his Managua home, he shot and killed one of them. He later moved to Cuba in the 1990s but became disenchanted with Communism. He then moved to Mexico, where his daughter and first wife smuggled him back across the U.S. border. He settled in Santa Barbara, California, and wrote a script, Exiled in America, based on his experiences. Norton died of a heart attack on October 1, 2010, at age 85.
Compiled from Wikipedia. Automated record.